This rare Sherlock Holmes film was released at the same time as the Raymond Massey picture "The Speckled Band". The story is partly based on two Conan Doyle short stories: "The Final Problem" and "The Empty House".

Sceptical about the potential success of the film, the producers sold the rights to the film to "First Division Pictures" for 800 pounds. The film was released in July 1931 under the title "Sherlock Holmes' Fatal Hour". It was very successful, running for over a month on Broadway, which was unprecidented for a British produced programmer.

Reviews hailed the film for "bringing the real Sherlock Holmes to the screen." This prompted 4 more movies in the series The Missing Rembrandt (still considered lost), The Sign of Four, The Triumph of Sherlock Holmes and The Silver Blaze/Murder at the Baskervilles.

This film was deemed lost when the only known print (a 16 mm reduction print of the US version) went missing after being shown at a Sherlock Holmes Society reception for Arthur Wontner in 1955. This version comes from a second generation copy with the titles replaced due to focus/framing issues.

PLEASE NOTE: The film is public domain. The above descriptive text is not. Please ask permission before reusing this text in any way.

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